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Apple Unveils the iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max and the iPhone XR

Apple has finally unveiled the widely rumored three new iPhones: The OLED-based iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max and the more "affordable," LCD-based iPhone XR.

Essentially, all the new iPhones feature new camera features, the new A12 Bionic chip, and they mainly differ in terms of displays (OLED Vs LCD), and the number of cameras onboard. The 5.8" iPhone XS and 6.5" iPhone XS Max with OLED displays, and an iPhone XR with 6.1" LCD "Liquid Retina" screen. iPhone XS and XS Max offer dual-camera modules like the X, while the XR uses a single 12MP wide-angle camera.

iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max build on the all-screen design of iPhone X and feature the sharpest displays with the highest pixel density of any Apple device. Now offered in 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch sizes, these Super Retina displays with a custom OLED design support Dolby Vision and HDR10 and have iOS system-wide color management. iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max offer a million-to-one contrast ratio while showing 60 percent greater dynamic range in HDR photos. iPhone Xs Max delivers over 3 million pixels for videos, movies and games, offering the largest display ever in an iPhone in a footprint similar to iPhone 8 Plus.

A surgical grade stainless steel band now in gold joins finishes in silver and space gray. Wider stereo playback creates a more immersive soundstage. The front and back glass design features durable glass with improved scratch resistance, while the glass back enables faster wireless charging. iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max reach a new level of splash and water resistance of IP68 for up to 2 meters for 30 minutes and protect against everyday spills including coffee, tea and soda.

The Apple-designed A12 Bionic chip packs 6.9 billion transistors and is "the most powerful chip in a smartphone," said chief executive Tim Cook. It
features a six-core fusion architecture with two performance cores that are up to 15 percent faster, four efficiency cores that are up to 50 percent more efficient than the prior A11. The 10-nm A11 was touted as sporting up to 25% more performance and 70% more efficiency than its predecessor, reinforcing reports that the 7-nm node delivers declining advantages. The A12 packs a six-core GPU designed by Apple, said to be 50% faster than the block on the A11.

The performance will speed a variety of operations, including unlocking the phone using Apple?s facial-recognition software. It also enables a new capability to group multiple Siri functions into shortcuts.

The A12 also features powerful Apple-designed Image Signal Processor (ISP), video encoder and more. A storage controller can deliver iPhone storage up to 512GB. Even with all this power, iPhone Xs offers 30 minutes longer than iPhone X, and iPhone Xs Max offers an hour and a half longer than iPhone X, between charges.

The new Neural Engine is built for machine learning in everything from photography to augmented reality. A new eight-core design allows it to complete up to 5 trillion operations per second compared to 600 billion in A11 Bionic. This enables new capabilities like faster plane detection for ARKit and new features that use real-time machine learning. For the first time the Neural Engine is open to Core ML, empowering developers to build apps that utilize this efficient machine learning engine. Core ML running on the A12 Bionic Neural Engine is up to nine times faster than on A11 Bionic, with as little as one-tenth the energy usage.

Capabilities in photography include advanced depth segmentation using the Neural Engine, Smart HDR creating photos with high dynamic range and image detail, advanced bokeh quality in Portrait mode photos and dynamic depth of field that is user adjustable in the Photos app.

The 12-megapixel dual camera system features dual optical image stabilization with 2x optical zoom, while a new sensor is twice as fast. Smart HDR creates photos with more highlights and shadow detail. Larger and deeper pixels improve image fidelity and low-light performance.

Advanced depth segmentation in Portrait mode enables more sophisticated portraits with professional-level bokeh. New Depth Control allows users to dynamically adjust the depth of field in the Photos app both in real-time preview and post-capture to create portraits with a background blur. Portrait mode with Depth Control is also available on the TrueDepth camera for selfies, which includes Memoji and faster face tracking support for third-party ARKit apps.

The larger pixels and larger, faster sensor enable improved low-light performance and video stabilization, as well as extended dynamic range for more highlight and shadow detail in video modes up to 30 frames per second. Using the four built-in mics, users can also record stereo sound to get the most out of video recordings.

Face ID, Apple's facial authentication system, is now even faster. The TrueDepth camera system uses precision depth-sensing technology that goes far beyond the capabilities and security of two-dimensional facial scanners and enables users to unlock iPhone, use Apple Pay, gain access to secure apps and many more features with a simple glance.

iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max also introduce Gigabit-class LTE for even faster download speeds4 and Dual SIM5 through the use of a nano-SIM and digital eSIM.

iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max come with iOS 12 mobile operating system. iOS 12 introduces new AR experiences, helps people rediscover and share photos, and supoports new Animoji and Memoji. Screen Time helps users understand and take control of the time they spend interacting with their iOS devices, Siri Shortcuts give any app the ability to work with Siri and new privacy features help protect users from being tracked on the web.

iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max will be available in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB capacity models in space gray, silver and a new gold finish starting at $999 (US) and $1,099, respectively, from apple.com, in the Apple Store app and Apple Stores, and is also available through Apple Authorized Resellers and select carriers (prices may vary).

Apple also today announced iPhone XR, integrating technologies from iPhone XS in an all-screen glass and aluminum design with an advanced LCD featuring a 6.1-inch Liquid Retina display and six finishes. iPhone XR brings the A12 Bionic chip with next-generation Neural Engine, the TrueDepth camera system, Face ID and an advanced camera system that creates dramatic portraits using a single camera lens. iPhone XR will be available to pre-order beginning Friday, October 19 and in stores beginning Friday, October 26.

An all-screen design pushes the display of iPhone XR to its edges. The durable front glass is wrapped in an anodized band made from durable 7000 series aerospace-grade aluminum, and the glass back design enables wireless charging.

iPhone XR comes in six new finishes: white, black, blue, yellow, coral and (PRODUCT)RED. This new design is splash and water resistant, with a rating of IP67, and protects against everyday spills including coffee, tea and soda.

iPhone XR supports fast iPhone gestures like tap to wake, swipe up to the home screen, swipe down to access notifications and the Control Center, and the new haptic touch feature for pressing on the home screen to instantly launch the camera or flashlight.

New Depth Control allows users to adjust the depth of field both in real-time preview and post-capture to create portraits with a bokeh effect. An enhanced Portrait mode on the front-facing TrueDepth camera and Portrait Lighting for dramatic studio lighting effects are also available.

iPhone XR introduces Portrait mode with a single-lens camera with sophisticated bokeh, and Depth Control lets you adjust the depth of field.

iPhone XR uses LTE Advanced for fast download speeds and introduces Dual SIM5 through the use of a nano-SIM and digital eSIM.

iPhone XR will be available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB models in white, black, blue, yellow, coral and (PRODUCT)RED starting at $749 (US) from apple.com and Apple Stores, and is also available through Apple Authorized Resellers and select carriers (prices may vary).

With the launch of iPhone XS and iPhone XR, Apple has stopped selling the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s. The iPhone X is also no longer available through Apple, with the iPhone XS taking its place in the lineup.

Apple says these models are available at authorized resellers, with no guarantees on how long production will continue.

Apple has also shifted pricing on its older iPhone models down. iPhone SE costs $349. The iPhone 7 now starts at $449.

In addition, Apple will no longer include the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone adapter in the iPhone box. Further, Apple is continuing to include a 5W power adapter and Lightning to USB-A, as opposed to USB-C, and made no mention for AirPower.

And for those interested, below is a comparison of the new iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, with the previous generation iPhone X and iPhone 8 and 8 Plus: